Sony WH-CH720N review searches usually come from one specific type of shopper: someone who’s fallen in love with the pastel pink over ear look all over Pinterest and travel content, but has zero interest in paying flagship prices to get it. Fair question to have before buying anything: are you sacrificing real sound quality and noise cancellation just to save money, or is the budget option actually good?
Short answer, after putting these through an actual flight: they’re genuinely good. Not flagship good, but good enough that the gap between “budget” and “premium” here is a lot narrower than the price tag suggests.
The 30-second version: if you want a headset light enough to wear through a 10-hour flight without a headache, a battery that outlasts basically everything else in this category, and rich enough sound for under $150, the WH-CH720N earns its spot. It gets you a meaningful majority of what the flagship models do, for a fraction of what they cost.
Sony WH-CH720N, Check Price and Color Options on Amazon
Why 192 Grams Actually Matters
Most people skim past the weight spec on a headphone listing. Don’t, in this case, because it’s the single biggest reason this pair works for long stretches of wear.
Premium over-ear headphones tend to weigh somewhere between 230 and 260 grams. That extra weight doesn’t feel like much for the first hour. By hour three on a flight, the clamping force starts pressing against your temples, and if you wear glasses, the arms start digging in hard enough to actually hurt.
The CH720N sidesteps that entirely at 192 grams, which makes it Sony’s lightest wireless noise-cancelling headphone to date.
The headband contributes too. It’s slimmer and more flexible than what you’ll find on bulkier models, which means less pressure concentrated at the top of your head and a better fit if you’ve got a smaller head shape. Combine that with the reduced clamping force, and you get a headset that genuinely disappears after a while, in the good way.
What Actually Happens to the Noise on a Flight
Sony markets this as having Dual Noise Sensor technology running through something called the Integrated Processor V1, which sounds like marketing filler until you understand what it’s actually doing: reading ambient sound through microphones on each earcup and generating an inverse signal to cancel it out, the same core approach used in Sony’s pricier headphones.
Here’s what that translates to in the real world. On an actual flight, it does a genuinely solid job flattening the low, constant drone that comes from jet engines, and it handles the hum of train tracks or an office HVAC system just as well. That kind of steady, low-frequency noise is exactly what this processor is built to erase.
What it doesn’t fully erase is anything sharp or unpredictable. A crying baby a few rows back, or loud conversation in a coffee shop, will still leak through at a reduced volume rather than disappearing entirely.
This isn’t a flaw specific to this model, it’s a limitation of noise cancelling technology at every price point, but it’s worth knowing going in so you’re not expecting silence that isn’t coming.
The Pink, Specifically
If the aesthetic is part of why you’re considering these, it’s worth knowing exactly what you’re getting. The shade is a clean, matte pastel pink, understated rather than loud, and it photographs beautifully in a flatlay next to neutral travel gear.
It pairs particularly well with anything in a similar soft palette, a puffy toiletry bag in a matching dark pink tone being one obvious example if you’re building out a coordinated travel aesthetic.
Where It Wins and Where It Falls Short
What’s genuinely great:
- 35 hours of battery life, which beats out most competitors in this price range, including Sony’s own pricier models
- Ultra-light plastic build that holds up fine to daily handling despite the lower price point
- Physical buttons instead of touch controls, which means no accidental misclicks when you shift position and rest your head against a headrest or pillow
- A microphone quality that holds up well enough for work calls, not just casual listening
Where you’re trading down:
- It doesn’t fold into a compact circle the way some flagship models do, so it takes up a bit more room in a bag
- No hard case is included, just the headphones themselves, so you’ll want a soft pouch or you’ll be tossing them loose into a backpack
Is It Actually Worth Buying?
For most people who want the noise-cancelling headphone experience without spending flagship money, yes. The battery life alone is a legitimate advantage over pricier competitors, the weight makes it genuinely comfortable for long haul wear, and the noise cancelling handles the exact kind of steady drone that ruins most flights and commutes.
You’re not getting complete silence in a loud coffee shop, but very few headphones at any price actually deliver that.
If you’re deciding between this and something more premium, it comes down to how much that last stretch of noise cancelling performance and a few extra design touches are worth to you. For a lot of travelers, the answer is: not more than what this costs.
Sony WH-CH720N, Shop It on Amazon
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